Русская версияAuthorities on Friday, Aug.
22, continued the work of ascertaining
the identity of victims of Wednesday's deadly Spanair crash in
Madrid. The last two bodies recovered on Thursday were those of an
infant and an adult, said Benjamin Olivares, head of the airport's
fire department.
The find did nothing to change the previous official death toll of
153, but now the search for any further victims could be halted, he
said.
Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega
said that so far 39 of the dead have been identified. Fifteen of
them have been handed over for burial.
De le Vega was speaking after a crisis meeting of the Spanish
cabinet Thursday at which it was decided that an office to help the
relatives of the victims would be set up.
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King Juan Carlos I met with members of the fire brigade that was
called to the crash site
There were 19 survivors of the original passenger and crew total of
172 on board the MD-82 plane.
Painstaking process
A Red Cross spokeswoman said the identification of bodies would
take time.
"Many of the bodies are so charred that identification will only be
possible with the help of DNA analysis," she said.
A temporary morgue has been set up in an exhibition hall in the
capital to facilitate the process.
Specialists from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) are
to help Spanish authorities identify bodies, the German Foreign
Office said Thursday.
Spain had accepted an offer by the German government overnight, a
spokeswoman said. She did not confirm whether German victims were
among the dead.
The Spanish government later said 14 foreigners had died in the
crash, including five Germans, two French citizens, and citizens
from Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Brazil, Mauritania, Gambia and
Indonesia.
Cause still unknown
Experts have begun attempting to find the cause of the worst
Spanish air disaster in 25 years. The Spanair aircraft apparently
burst into flames and broke up immediately after takeoff.
Spanair flight JK 5022, which was cross-listed with German carrier
Lufthansa as LH 2554, had been bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
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Spanair was facing financial difficulties
Spanish Transport Minister Magdalena Alvarez said the flight had
had technical problems prior to takeoff, and that the pilot had
already aborted one attempt at departure. The minister did not say
what the technical problems involved, but media reports indicated
that an exterior temperature gauge had undergone last-minute
repairs.
Spain's
El Pais
newspaper reported that a fire in one of the aircraft's engines
may have caused the crash. Spanish media said air crash
investigators have recovered two black box flight recorders and
would study the data for clues to the disaster.
Spain, Europe mourn victims
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called a
three-day period of mourning and visited the scene where relatives
were being brought in by special flights to identify the dead on
Thursday.
Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia also expressed
condolences for the victims.
Air traffic meanwhile returned to normal at Barajas airport
Thursday.
Spanair is facing financial difficulties, with its Scandinavian
parent company SAS reportedly trying to find a buyer for the ailing
airline. Spanair was in the process of reducing staff by a third
and shrinking its number of routes.
(Deutsche Welle)
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